


Hospital Bracelets

by MissMarieInWonderland



Series: Hospital Bracelets [1]
Category: Glee
Genre: Gen, i wish I could write something that wasn't angst, mentions of eating disorders, specifically anorexia, yay for Sebastian and his own special brand of caring
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-07
Updated: 2013-06-07
Packaged: 2017-12-14 05:22:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/833234
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissMarieInWonderland/pseuds/MissMarieInWonderland
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Six day ago, Sebastian Smythe arrived back from lacrosse practice to find his roommate absent. Any text he sent was ignored, and any call went straight to voicemail. The room looked to be the same, but upon closer inspection (aka, ‘Hunter Hunting’), Sebastian noticed some of his roommate’s clothes and luggage missing. Even that demonic creature Hunter insisted on calling a cat was gone. He shrugged it off. Hunter was a big boy; if he wanted to crash somewhere else for the night, far be it from Sebastian to stop him.</p>
<p>Five and a half days ago, he was told by Dalton’s headmaster that Hunter was out for “personal reasons” and that Sebastian would be temporarily reinstated as captain of the Warblers. There had definitely been no arguments there; Sebastian had merely smirked before going to take back his rightful place as lead (no matter how temporary it might be).</p>
<p>Today, he returned from lacrosse practice to find that demon cat curled up on his pillow, and Hunter hurrying around trying to put his things back in order.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hospital Bracelets

Six day ago, Sebastian Smythe arrived back from lacrosse practice to find his roommate absent. Any text he sent was ignored, and any call went straight to voicemail. The room looked to be the same, but upon closer inspection (aka, ‘Hunter Hunting’), Sebastian noticed some of his roommate’s clothes and luggage missing. Even that demonic creature Hunter insisted on calling a cat was gone. He shrugged it off. Hunter was a big boy; if he wanted to crash somewhere else for the night, far be it from Sebastian to stop him.

Five and a half days ago, he was told by Dalton’s headmaster that Hunter was out for “personal reasons” and that Sebastian would be temporarily reinstated as captain of the Warblers. There had definitely been no arguments there; Sebastian had merely smirked before going to take back his rightful place as lead (no matter how temporary it might be).

Three days ago, he was beginning to grow uneasy with the quiet in his dorm. Normally, he’d at least have someone to argue with. Now it was just eerie. Because almost all of Hunter’s things were still there, and Hunter’s side of the room looked the same, but there was no Hunter.He decided to crash in Nick’s room for a few nights. You know, for fun.

Today, he returned from lacrosse practice to find that demon cat curled up on his pillow, and Hunter hurrying around trying to put his things back in order. The only acknowledgement that he even heard Sebastian come in was a chaste nod, before turning back to fold the clothes he had scattered across his bed.

“Where the hell have you been?” Sebastian shouted, a bit more forceful than he had intended. He threw his bag against the wall, crossing his arms and glaring at his previously MIA roommate.

Turning back to look at him, Hunter’s eyes shifted around the room and he shrugged. “Out.” He said casually.

Sebastian snorted and rolled his eyes. He made his way further into the room, glaring at the white beast on his bed. “Yeah, I sort of put that together myself, dumbass. I meant where the hell have you been?” Because that’s a perfectly logical question to ask when someone disappears for six days without a word and then shows back up again, right? That should warrant an answer.

No, of course not. Instead, Hunter completely turned around from his spot by his dresser and looked at Sebastian in genuine surprise. “No one told you?” He asked almost tentatively.

“I was told personal reasons, but hell if I know what that means.” He could physically see Hunter relax, which only made him raise an eyebrow.

Instead of answering, Hunter just brushed Sebastian off with a shrug, though there was still obvious tension in his body. “Did you follow the schedule I left?”

“Are you going to continue avoiding my question?” Sebastian sighed heavily in defeat, already knowing the answer.. Clarington was just as stubborn as him, and he knew when to back down. “Alright, whatever. Keep your little secret.” He smirked at the glare Hunter shot him, before heading to his own dresser to change out of his practice clothes. He began sifting through the drawers when his eyes wandered to Hunter’s desk right beside the dresser. Or rather, what was on it. Is that… “Why do you have a hospital bracelet?”

The tension that had left Hunter just a few seconds ago returned, evident in his stiff body language as he looked over his shoulder. “What?”

Sebastian reached over to grab the band, which looked to have been snipped off, and held it up for Hunter to see. “Clarington, H., admitted October 14th. The hospital, that’s where you were?”

Before he had a chance to even register Hunter moving, the bracelet was snatched out of his hand and thrown in the trash. “Jesus, Smythe, don’t go through my things.”

He brushed off the murderous glare Hunter was giving him with a bored sigh. “It was right on the desk, I didn’t go through anything. What happened, were you sick?”

“Misunderstanding. Please tell me you managed to keep the Warblers in line. I don’t want to have to waste a few days fixing whatever you may have messed up..” He hastily answered, making sure to avoid any and all eye contact Sebastian tried to initiate.

Sebastian narrowed his eyes. He never had been one to enjoy avoidance tactics. “Okay, you know what?” He said, suddenly not in the mood for whatever Clarington’s game was. “My roommate disappears for about a week without a word. Then he randomly shows up, turns out he was in the hospital? Sorry if it’s not coming across, but showing that I’m worried isn’t my area of expertise. If I have to spell it out for you, fine. I’m just trying to make sure you’re alright.”

He saw Hunter bow his head in a manner almost akin to defeat. Well, as close to defeat as the captain would allow himself to get. He heard Hunter’s voice, but the words were far too mumbled to be understood. “I’m sorry, I didn’t quite catch that.”

“I was in observation.”

“Observation? What the hell for?”

“Well, if I had to hazard a guess, I’d say it was because they wanted to watch me.” Hunter said with a roll of his eyes.

“And right back to the no answer thing. Alright, got it.”

Hunter sighed heavily at the edge in Sebastian’s voice. The last thing he probably wanted to do was piss his roommate off, and he was on the road to doing just that. “I have a history with some shit. They thought it was starting up again, and overreacted. So they kept me to make sure I wasn’t reverting back . ” His voice didn’t waiver in volume, but the tone was enough to make the hairs on the back of Sebastian’s neck stand on end. Hunter cast his eyes down, balling up the shirt he had been folding and throwing it into the dresser. He slammed the drawer shut and spun on his heel to face Sebastian. “Satisfied?”

Had he been assigned anyone else as a roommate -literally, ANYONE at Dalton- they would have been terrified into silence. But no, he had Sebastian fucking Smythe, who didn’t so much as flinch. “You have a history of it?”

“God, you’re obnoxious. Yes, I have a history. Did I not just say that?”

“History of what, exactly?” Sebastian asked, leaning back against the desk and crossing his arms. The look he gave Hunter wasn’t one of maliciousness or vindictiveness; it was genuine curiosity (and if Hunter wasn’t convinced that Sebastian was completely devoid of the emotion, he’d had said there was concern, too).

He let out another heavy sigh, running his fingers through his hair and turning back to the dresser. No way out of this now, Clarington. “Official diagnosis? Anorexia Nervosa when I was 14. Got it? Now fucking drop it.”

Against his better judgment, he looked over for Sebastian’s reaction. Whatever he had been expecting, it wasn’t to see Sebastian standing their casually with his brow furrowed in confusion. “I’m sorry, I must have zoned out for a second, ‘cause it sounded like you just said you —”

“You heard right.” Hunter cut him off, his tone devoid of any emotions. He could feel Sebastian staring holes into his back, and when he looked over his shoulder once more, he was simply staring, mouth hanging open.

Ahh, there’s the reaction Hunter was expecting.

Sebastian stood wide-eyed for a few awkward, silence-filled seconds before he trusted himself to speak. He licked his lips, and focused his attention strictly on Hunter. “Like… Anorexia like you don’t eat?”

“No, like I didn’t eat.” Hunter said, looking down at the ground. Fuck it, he finishing getting himself re-organized in the morning. He was suddenly exhausted. “But yeah, something like that.”

“What sort of misunderstanding makes them think that?” Sebastian asked as turned back to his own dresser, pulling out a fresh set of clothes and looking at Hunter with inquiry. Hunter had to admit, he was grateful that Sebastian wasn’t al over like people usually were when he told them about this.

“I was running at the track a few days ago and sort of passed out. I must have over-worked myself or something. Anyways, that sophomore, Mason, was there. He freaked out and found the nurse, who took a look at my file and decided to ship me off to the hospital. I guess they didn’t like what they saw, so they decided to keep me there and make sure I was eating.” He explained, trying to sound casual, though it was growing increasingly harder not to start squirming under Sebastian’s gaze

The other teen had shrugged his clean clothes on and thrown the others in his hamper, and Hunter didn’t miss the look that clearly told him Sebastian had questions. May as well get it all out in the open now, Clarington. You’ve already sold yourself out. “Go ahead, ask whatever you want.”

“Well, it’s just you went to military school. Intense environment, wouldn’t they have caught on to that?”

“They did. Said I had to recover or I’d be kicked out. I’d already disappointed my parents enough, I wasn’t about to make things worse.” He shrugged. “So I spent a few weeks over the break between 10th and 11th grade getting better.”

“And you’re… recovered now?” Sebastian asked, stuttering as if he didn’t quite know how to word it. His answer was in the form of a nod, while Hunter walked across the room to pick his sleeping cat from Sebastian’s pillow and move her to his own. Sebastian cast his gaze down as he thought back to before Hunter’s little vanishing act. “You really don’t eat all that much.” He pointed out.

Hunter tensed up again, and decided the best course of action was to focus on petting his cat. She purred loudly, and he tried his best to brush off Sebastian’s remark. “I eat enough.”

Sebastian studied him for a few seconds before shaking his head “Not really. You usually leave dinner early with some excuse. Like a few weeks back, you said were busy with organizing shit for the Warblers and you didn’t have time to eat.”

“Yeah? Well maybe if you had left them in some decent order, I wouldn’t have to be cleaning up your mess!” Hunter immediately hit the defense, feeling his heart start to race and his skin flush.

For his part, Sebastian was unfazed. He had been in the receiving end of one too many of Hunter’s little fits to be taken aback by them anymore “Why did you black out, then?” He asked, sounding as if it were the most casual question in the world. He didn’t miss the way Hunter was getting increasingly flustered.

“I got overheated! Christ, you sound like them. Just because I fainted doesn’t mean I’m not eating.”

“I didn’t say it was! I’m just saying, you don’t eat enough, and maybe -just maybe- you shouldn’t have been running in the first place.” Sebastian watched him carefully noting the way Hunter shifted from side to side He had never seen Hunter look this uncomfortable, and he bit his lip before coming straight out and asking, “You have been at least trying to eat, right?”

“Yes!” Hunter shouted, earning him a nasty look from Mr. Puss. He sighed heavily, and ran his fingers through his hair. “It’s… look, they overreacted. Maybe I don’t eat like I should, but it’s nothing to freak about.”

“You blacked out.” Sebastian pointed out, keeping his eyes unwaveringly on Hunter. His entire tone was matter-of-fact, and Hunter wanted to hit him on that basis alone. “You blacked out because you didn’t eat, and then decided to go for a jog. That sounds reason enough to freak out.”

If he were being honest with himself, he would have agreed. He knew Sebastian was right, and the logical part of his brain was saying to be straight about it. But the logical part of his brain when it came to this had been shut down a long time ago. “It was a slip-up. They happen.” He was trying to assure himself of that more than Sebastian. He swallowed thickly, and focused all of his attention on Mr. Puss. “These things happen….”

Sebastian furrowed his eyebrows together and pushed himself off of the desk. “Hunter…?” He asked, taking a hesitant step forward so as to not provoke the boy. “Everything okay?”

It took what felt like minutes for the question to reach Hunter’s ears, and when it did, the sound was muffled. It was like Sebastian was a million miles away, instead if three feet in front of him. Slowly, Hunter shook his head. God, he was so fucked… He had barely managed to convince the doctors at the hospital that he was safe to go back to Dalton. Back for three hours, and already things were going to hell.

He didn’t realize he was shaking until he felt himself being weighed down. He instinctively jumped when Sebastian put his hands sternly on his shoulders, in some vain attempt to keep Hunter grounded. “Hunter, calm down. It’s alright.”

“No, it’s not!” Hinter finally snapped as his breathing started speeding up. He managed to weasel himself out of Sebastian’s grip and press his back to the headboard. “No, because now they’re having someone make sure I’m eating and I don’t fucking want to! It… God, have you ever had someone watch you eat? It’s awful! They just sit there and judge you. I don’t want the nurse or some shit watching me all the time like I’m some sick freak, it was bad enough the first time!” The room was getting warmer, he was sure of that. Jesus Christ, someone had to turn the heat down in this school. “And… and my parents already know I was in the hospital. I’m just waiting for them to call and bitch me out for this. They’re going to be so pissed, I am dead as soon as I’m back in Colorado, but I just… fuck, I don’t want food! What is so hard to get about that?”

He brought his hand up to his chest, feeling his heart slam right against his ribs. He honestly could not breathe. He’d gotten used to the dizzy spells by now, but in this state, seeing the room start to spin was only freaking him out more.

In his daze, he didn’t notice Sebastian taking hold of him once again. He was gripping Hunter’s upper arms, trying to force him out of the attack. Hunter’s hands had instinctively jumped up to grab at Sebastian’ wrists, but his grip never faltered.

“Hunter, focus. It’s Sebastian. You’re having a panic attack, and you need. To calm. Down.” He made sure to speak slowly and calmly, never once letting up on his hold. “Understand?” There was no verbal reply, but Hunter did not his head. Sebastian smiled at the sign. “Good. Okay, just focus on my voice and breath. Nice and steady, like finding a tempo. In and out and in and out.” Sebastian instructed, taking them at a slow enough rhythm for Hunter to calm himself.

Slowly but surely, Hunter began breathing deep, and his grip on Sebastian’s wrists went lax. His hands He waited until he was sure his heart wouldn’t beat out of his chest before opening his eyes. When he did, he was met with Sebastian’s grin. If Hunter had any energy in him at all, he would have felt humiliated.

Once Sebastian was sure the panic attack was over, he let go of Hunter and scooted away to give him space. Hunter sat there for a few minutes taking steady breaths before trusting himself to speak. When he did, his voice was hoarse. “Thanks… for that.”

Sebastian simply gave a small shrug. “I knew this guy in Paris who used to get panic attacks a lot. I’m sort of an expert at calming people down.” He explained with a smug look. Hunter chuckled and licked his dry lips. Sebastian let his grin falter, and he gave Hunter a serious look. “Hey, I meant it. You might not want to, but… Hunt, you gotta eat. I shouldn’t even have to explain that to you, but it looks like I do.”

“It was different at my old school. It was a lot more active, and could rationalize with myself that muscle weighed more than fat.” He explained. “But the only real exercise I regularly get here is dancing, and it’s not… it doesn’t seem like it’s enough, you know? To burn off everything I eat.”

“Yeah, but you don’t even eat all that much in the first place, Hunt. I mean, I’m skinny and you eat less than me. Jeff’s a twig, and he eats more than you.” Sebastian was fully ready to compare every student at Dalton’ eating habits with Hunter’s lack thereof, but a shake of the head told him he didn’t have to.

“I know, it’s just… God, I sound so fucking dumb. I get it. Really, I do. Two years of therapy weren’t all for nothing. I get that I should eat more, and not try and burn it all off right after. But as soon as I actually go to eat, it just doesn’t click. That’s when I start to think back like I did before.”

“Look, I don’t… this is way out of my comfort zone. I don’t know anything about this kind of stuff, but you’ll be okay. If you’ve relapsed, or whatever that word is, that’s fine. You got through it once, you can do it again.

Hunter scoffed “Yeah? And how do you know that?”

One glance at Sebastian was enough of an answer for him. “Because you’re Hunter Clarington.” He said, and he said it with the surest smile Hunter had ever seen. It was like he had said that the earth was round, or that Nick and Jeff were probably making out as they spoke. It was like it was the one thing in the world he was certain of.

And Hunter returned the smile.


End file.
